As of now, 29 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been detected in the country, the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Harsh Vardhan told the Parliament on March 5th, 2020. Of these, three (from Kerala) have recovered and have been discharged.
The minister further informed that a total of 3542 samples have been sent for testing, of which 29 have been found to be positive for COVID-19 till now. “Testing of 92 samples is in process and 23 samples are being reconfirmed,” he added. It may be mentioned that a total of 80,270 confirmed cases and 2981 deaths have been reported in China so far.
The minister further said, “Since, in addition to COVID 19 cases related to travel, some cases of community transmission have also been observed, it has been decided to involve district collectors and States have been asked to form rapid response teams as the district, block and village levels.”
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Vardhan said new travel-related cases have tested positive for the last three days. “These include one in Delhi (having a travel history of Italy) and Telangana (having travel history from Dubai and contact history from the person from Singapore). Both are clinically stable,” he added. Six more cases have tested positive in Agra, Uttar Pradesh having contact history with the case in Delhi.
The minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is personally monitoring the preparedness and response to fight against the coronavirus on a regular basis. “The Centre has initiated a series of action to prevent the entry of the disease and to contain it. A Group of Ministers consisting of Minister of External Affairs, Minister of Civil Aviation and Minister of State for Home Affairs, Minister of State for Shipping and Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare chaired by me have been constituted to monitor the situation,” he informed.
Screening of the passengers at airports, seaports and railway stations have been upped across the country. As on March 4th, 2020, a total of 6241 flights have been screened covering a total of 6,11,167 passengers. Teams of Specialist doctors were sent to all the airports to ensure effective screening and arrangement for isolation in the attached hospitals. On the other hand, a total of 16,076 persons have been screened at the seaports.
In view of the continuing lockdown of the Hubei Province in China, the Government of India decided to evacuate the Indian students and other professionals working in Wuhan and neighbouring cities in the Hubei Province.
I want to inform this house that the Government is taking all necessary measures to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 in India.
Photo credit: RSTV
